Cost: Admission costs $5; food truck items cost above and beyond admission. Free admission for children ages 12 and under. Tickets available at the festival or in advance online.

Visit: foodtruckfestivalsofne.com.

Food trucks roll inFestival brings the best of street food to the Port City

10/02/14

Redhook Brewery in Portsmouth will look more like a street in downtown Boston or New York this weekend when 20 food trucks pull on to the lot to serve up gourmet street food to hungry customers. While there are a few food trucks in the Granite State, it’s not as big a trend as in metropolitan areas like Boston — and “that’s exactly the reason we’re coming,” Janet Prensky, spokesperson for the New Hampshire Food Truck Festival, said during a phone interview. “We choose areas that don’t yet have a fully vibrant food truck world.”

Food Truck Festivals of New England held its first trial in 2011. At the time, there were only eight food trucks in New England. Now, there are 360, says Prensky.

“We didn’t know what to expect,” she said. “Four thousand people showed up. That’s when we knew we better make this into a business.”

Three years later, this is the first time the festival is coming to the Granite State. It’s on Sunday, Oct. 5, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and will feature trucks from across the region.

“We had been looking for somewhere in New Hampshire for a couple of years,” Prensky said. “When we met Redhook, we know this was the perfect place and the perfect partner.”

Trucks will be parked on site and configured so guests can hop from one truck to the next. Each offers a variety of made-to-order menu items, including smaller plates at lower prices.

“That allows you to taste from a lot of trucks and graze through the festival,” Prensky said.

You can, for example, pick up a lobster roll, chowder or fried fish at Captain Marden’s Cod Squad (which is the truck from the popular Wellesley, Mass., restaurant), fried cauliflower or a caprese from The Dining Car, barbecue like pulled pork and a side of mac and cheese from Gabby’s Smokeshack (a local truck from Hudson), and finish it all off with dessert from the Whoopie Wagon (try red velvet, salted caramel whoopie pies, or a whoopie pie dunked in chocolate coating) and a homemade ice cream sandwich from Cookie Monstah.

“There are some lines, because everything is custom made,” Prensky said. “Sometimes you will wait for your food, but that’s part of the food truck festival ambiance.”

There are vegetarian, vegan and allergy-friendly options, too. Redhook will have beers available, and the festival’s sponsor, Hood Cream, will be serving up free coffee and cream.

There will also be live music by Waldo and children’s activities like face painting.

“People are so curious, and so intrigued,” Prensky said. “Initially when we first did it, we thought, ‘I wonder if it’s going to be a fad?’ But it’s a trend, a phenomenon, and it’s not going away.”